A Singaporean nurse took to Twitter to lament how nurses like himself are being targeted, ostracised and blamed by Singaporeans for the recent growing number of Covid-19 cases.
He pointed out the hypocrisy of some Singaporeans, who just a year ago, lauded and applauded them (our nurses and healthcare workers) for being “Healthcare Heroes” and now, they are being blamed for the current outbreak.
He added:
“We sacrificed our lives to protect yours. And when its the time we need support from you, you turn against us? It’s sad, very sad.”
At the time of writing, the Tweet had garnered over 8k retweets, with many netizens offering him messages of support.
The Ministry of Health (MOH)’s director of medical services, Kenneth Mak, appealed to Singaporeans at yesterday’s (4 May) press conference, not to shun Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) employees.
This is in the wake of the growing cluster of Covid-19 cases at TTSH (at the time of writing, the cases stand at 40) and their healthcare workers being told they are not welcome by landlords.
MOH is also rendering support to staff who require support for accommodation as they work extra hours to control the outbreak, working with hotel groups to do so.
Some of the healthcare workers have also requested to stay away from the rest of their family during this time as an abundance of caution, giving peace of mind to their family members.
Mak said:
“These workers are well, and they have committed a lot of time and energy towards looking after patients at Tan Tock Seng Hospital at this stage. So we endeavour also to support them, making sure they have support and accommodation through this difficult time when they are being called up to do much more than what they’d normally be expected to.”
Mak said that he is hoping Singaporeans can come together and stand united in supporting our healthcare workers toiling on the frontlines, just like how we did last year.
After forgetting to turn off his camera following a zoom meeting, Huseynbal Miralamov then turned around to grope the backside of his staff, who bent over behind him to deposit some documents.
He later turned back to face the camera and realised that his camera was on the whole time.
He has since been expelled from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party and the Council of Elders.
A video emerged online showing the aftermath of an accident between a cyclist and a van.
The cyclist was purportedly hit by the van and was seen lying stiff and motionless on the road, with his eyes open.
The accident purportedly happened at Geylang Lorong 25.
In the event of anything unfortunate happening, it would be advisable to get yourselves insured with some form of personal mobility insurance to better protect yourself.
Drivers should also get themselves insured with insurance coverage to protect themselves as well as their vehicles against damage due to accidents, especially if the vehicles were purchased with a bank loan or car loan.
The MOH Director of Medical Services, Kenneth Mak, said in a press conference yesterday (4 May) that the growing Covid-19 cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is the result of the new and more transmissible variants of the virus.
He revealed that more cases of the Covid-19 variants around the world have been detected locally; including the B.1351 variant from South Africa, the P.1 Variant from Brazil and the new B16172 variant from India, which is speculated to have been the reason for India’s devastating 2nd wave of cases.
Singapore saw 7 cases of the India variant in the local clusters, with 5 of them in the TTSH cluster; out of which one of them is a nurse, and the other is a doctor, with both having attended to patients.
The TTSH cluster is currently Singapore’s largest and most active to date, with more than 40 staff, patients and relatives affected.
Mak also highlighted that the situation could’ve been worse if people didn’t get vaccinated, revealing that of the 9 people out of the 40 cases at the TTSH cluster were fully vaccinated and they had little to no symptoms.
He also revealed that those who weren’t vaccinated required oxygen therapy.
Co-chair of the Multi-Ministry Task Force Lawrence Wong explained that the new variant strains have “higher attack rates”, and that they are “more infectious”, thus causing the larger clusters than before.
He added that “we must assume that there are still hidden cases out there in the community”.
Co-chair of the Multi Ministry Taskforce (MTF) Lawrence Wong announced in a press conference yesterday (4 May) that Singapore has effectively returned to Phase 2.
This comes in the wake of rising locally transmitted community cases of Covid-19.
Minister of Health, Gan Kim Yong, also said at the press conference that while the government has yet to rule out the possibility of another Circuit Breaker, he hopes that Singapore will not get there, with the current set of newly announced measures.
Gan said:
“I think we probably will be able to avoid having to get to a Circuit Breaker situation.”
“We cannot rule that out.”
“And that is why we will continue to have to remain vigilant and monitor the situation and adjust our measures as we go along.”
Lawrence Wong also highlighted that the situation today is different from when the first Circuit Breaker was imposed back in April 2020 by the Government.
He explained that we have better testing and contact tracing capabilities today.
Images source: @hiharveen and @jar_der_Herzen on Twitter
In the wake of Singapore’s growing Covid-19 numbers and the resumption of “Phase 2”, the co-chair of the Multi-Ministry Taskforce, Lawrence Wong, said in an Instagram post that Singapore cannot afford to close borders for a long duration.
He explained that Singapore needs migrant workers to help build our homes, as well as in a wide range of essential services like cleaning and caring for our seniors.
He also said that Singapore’s approach to the pandemic is not to shut our borders permanently, but to manage them on a risk-based approach – controlling the inflow of the workers tightly and quarantining them before they can start work here.
Wong also highlighted that in fact, with the latest restrictions on arrivals from the entire Indian sub-continent, some HDB BTO projects may now be delayed by more than a year.
He also stressed the importance for the community to do their part to reduce interactions and observe safe distancing rules, and that Singapore cannot rely on border measures alone to control the infection.
Images source: Singapore Tourism Board via @lawrencewongst on Instagram, Lawrence Wong Facebook
